WinOutreach4

Hi Rajeshjohn, RunSynchronous is not a component of Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup. It is a component of Microsoft-Windows-Deployment. I would recommend that you use the Windows System Image Manager (WSIM) to create and edit your answer files, as this cannot happen when using WSIM. It also has a validation feature to help ensure the file is structured properly. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro The Springboard Series on TechNet

MDT can work from a regular workstation, either by putting all data on the USB/DVD or you can just have the boot image on the USB/DVD and MDT will pull the data across the network from the deployment share. Since you state that you are just learning, I’ll leave a few links for you. These two videos are a great introduction to MDT: Deployment Day Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012 Deployment Day Session 2: MDT 2012 Advanced In addition, there are many articles and videos on the Deploy Windows 7 and Deploy Windows 8 pages of the Springboard Series on TechNet to help learn about deploying Windows. There are also many videos on Channel 9 about deploying Windows. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

Both Synchronous commands are set to <Order>1</Order>. They can't both be first, one of them must be order 2. This can be seen in the examples on the Order page of the Unattended Windows Setup Reference on TechNet. You may want to use the Windows System Image Manager to create your unattend files, as the validation feature can help catch errors. The Windows SIM is a part of the WAIK and WADK. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team - IT Pro The Springboard Series on TechNet

Tripredacus is correct… the server needs to be setup before you can do anything remotely. Even then, unless you are using System Center Configuration Manager, someone would have to hit F12 to start the PXE boot process. Please see the TechNet article ‘Zero-Touch, High-Volume Deployment’. If Configuration Manager is not an option, you will have to go with a 'Lite-Touch deployment'. It would be possible (using MrJinje’s easy way) to setup the server image in MDT, then mail a bootable USB key with the media that MDT creates loaded on it, then walk them through booting to USB and anything that you are not able to automate. In the Video ‘Deployment Day Session 2: MDT 2012 Advanced’ at about the 27 minute mark, using a UFD (USB Flash Drive) is discussed. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro The Springboard Series on TechNet

Have you checked any of the log files to see if there are any errors? This ‘Ask the core Team’ blog post gives locations for MDT log files. Also, The TechNet article ‘Understanding Failures and Log Files’ shows the locations of various log files created by Windows Setup that may help find the issue. I’d recommend using the SLSHARE setting in your deployment share rules to automatically collect all the MDT logs in your deployment share for ease of troubleshooting. If you search for SLSHARE in the MDT help files, it explains how to set it up. The only other thing I can think of is that maybe there is an answer file in a higher priority location. The TechNet article ‘Methods for Running Windows Setup’ has a chart with the implicit answer file search order that will show you where to check. Just out of curiosity, did you capture the image with a sysprep and capture task sequence in MDT, or some other method? Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro The Springboard Series on TechNet

If you use the Windows System Image Manager (WSIM) that is built into the ADK, it will show you where it is possible to add the components. Some can go in several of the passes, but where you put them depends on exactly what you are trying to do. For your example of the tutorial where settings were put in the PE pass (assuming they were language settings), that automates the setup language selection. So you would not see the language selection screen any more during the beginning of a deployment. You would have to also add it in the OOBE pass to set the deployed OS language. It may be in your best interest to also install the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). MDT is a free task based deployment solution that uses the tools in the ADK (and more) to simplify deployments. You do not need to write your own answer files, as MDT will build it for you based on the settings you specify in the task sequence. It can also manage device drivers and install other software during the deployment process. These two videos area great introduction to MDT: Deployment Day Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012 Deployment Day Session 2: MDT 2012 Advanced If you also have a Windows Server, MDT can use the WDS role to deploy over the network using PXE booting. More information on MDT and the ADK are available on the Deliver and Deploy Windows 8 page of the Springboard Series on TechNet Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

According to the TechNet article "How to Split a Windows Image (.swm) File to Span Across Multiple DVDs": In Windows 8, Windows Setup does not support installing from split .wim files. However, you can use DISM to apply the image to the destination computer with the /Apply-Image option. The TechNet article 'Image Management Command-Line Options' shows the DISM command line options with examples. For this issue, the example shown is "Dism /apply-image /imagefile:install.swm/swmfile:install*.swm /index:1 /applydir:d:\" More helpful information about using DISM with Windows 8 can be found on the Deliver and Deploy Windows 8 page of the Springboard Series on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

The Productkey setting can also be placed in the WindowsPE pass (you didn't post your real product key on a public forum, did you?). This TechNet article explains the difference in the two locations as: "Use the ProductKey setting in the Microsoft-Windows-Setup component to specify the Windows image to install during Windows setup… And later: " Use this ProductKey (specialize pass) setting to specify a different Product Key to activate Windows." So you should be putting the product key in the WindowsPE pass to select the image to install and activate. The ProductKey setting in the Specialize pass will be used to try to activate Windows if it is different from the one in the WindowsPE pass. The specialize pass ProductKey should not be needed. More information on Unattended deployments can be found on the Springboard Series pages on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

Unfortunately, the previous methods you used in conjunction with previous operating system deployments to copy the task bar icons from one image to another will not work the same when it comes to imaging Windows 8. This can be seen in the TechNet article Basic Windows Deployment Step-by-Step Guide, under section 3.2 'Customize the default user profile' where it states: "Note that items that are pinned to the taskbaror to the Start screen are not copied to the default user profile." Setting the pinned items to a customized default setting would have to be done in another manner, such as scripting. This TechNet forum thread links to a script written for Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008R2, however another forum member tested and claims it works on Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012. Furthermore, the TechNet article DoNotCleanTaskBar also states that this setting was only used to copy deskbands, which is a customized toolbar that can be added to the taskbar. With that said, this setting will not be able to pull the pinned taskbar items to the default user profile. More information about deploying Windows 8 can be found on the Deliver and Deploy Windows 8 page of the Springboard Series on TechNet. David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

If you use Setup.exe to install Windows Vista to the C drive of a machine, and then capture that image, it will resolve the issue for you. This MS support article explains this. Basically, running setup solves this issue upon install, but applying the image with Imagex does not. Creating a custom image (even if you don't customize anything) and using that for your deployment should solve this issue. Another suggestion would be to only have one partition on the disk but assign it as D in your Diskpart script. Lastly, older versions of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit used Setup.exe to apply the images, while MDT 2012 Update 1 does not, as shown in this TechNet blog article. So If you use the link to download MDT 2010 Update 1, and set that up with your Vista image, it will install without this error. Further information on deploying Windows can be found onthe Springboard Series on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

The easiest method to add language packs to your deployment image is to use DISM to mount the offline image and add the language packs. This TechNet article explains in detail: How to Add and Remove Language Packs Offline. While it is possible to use the unattend file to install language packs, the Multilingual Deployment Overview lists a number of items to consider before choosing a specific method of installation. For example: "If you add a language pack to a Windows image in a Windows PE environment, you must add page file support to Windows PE". Adding packages through the unattend file happens in theWindows PE environment during the Offline Servicing pass, so this method would be more complicated than just adding it to the offline image with DISM. More information about using DISM and deploying Windows 8 can be found on the Deliver and Deploy Windows 8 page of the Springboard Series on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

As a Microsoft representative, I cannot comment on 3rd party imaging tools. However, you might also want to take a look at the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) for your imaging and deployment needs. MDT is a free solution that uses file based imaging rather than sector based imaging. It also manages device drivers, packages and software outside of the image. This allows you to update those items without recreating your images. MDT can also be used with DVDs or USB drives, or over the network using WDS or SCCM. A great video to show you how powerful and flexible your deployments can be with MDT: DeploymentDay Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012 Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

If your company has Volume Licensing with Software Assurance, then you already have access to the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP). MDOP has several tools to help IT Pros, one of which is the Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset (DaRT). DaRT includes 14 tools including Locksmith (for resetting passwords), Defender to scan for viruses while Windows is offline, File Restore to recover deleted files, Crash Analyzer and more. With DaRT, you can create a bootable image that can be used from USB, CD, DVD, deployed locally to workstations, or via network boot. There are many articles and videos that will help you at the Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset page of the Springboard Series on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

Another method to accomplish your goals would be to use the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) for your deployments. MDT allows you to run 'PostInstallation' tasks. This will allow your scripts to run during the deployment process while not having to modify your answer file at all. In addition, MDT can install software, updates and manage device drivers for you. No need to keep separate images for different departments based on software needs. Applications groups can be configured and selected at deployment to configure the image as needed. MDT can also deploy Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, Server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2 and 2012. This allows you to manage all of your OS deployments in one convenient tool. It also integrates with WDS for PXE deployments and multicasting, and SCCM for Zero-Touch installations. This short video (4:21) will give a quick overview of how MDT can help you save time and effort in your deployments: Deployment Workbench in Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 More information about the benefits of MDT can be foundon the Deliver and Deploy Windows 7 page of the Springboard Series on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT pro

The AuditSystem and AuditUserpasses only work when you are booting into AuditMode . TechNet has this article that explains How Configuration Passes Work. It also explains that non-boot-critical drivers can be installed in the OfflineServicing pass as well, and this is explained further in the Understanding Device Drivers and Deployment article and in the Add and Remove Drivers Offline article. This latter article also has an XML example that pulls the drivers from the network, so there is no need to inflate the size of your image with drivers for all of the possible hardware you might use. I would also like to re-iterate my suggestion above to look at MDT. MDT can manage device drivers for all of your hardware and will install the appropriate drivers upon deployment for you without needing to put all drivers into the image. Also, if a new version of a driver is released, you simply make the change in MDT, rather than loading your image, changing the driver and re-capturing the image. Hope this Helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

In addition to using Audit mode, you may want to look into using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) for deploying Windows. MDT is a common console for Microsoft's deployment tools such as Windows AIK, USMT (User State Migration Tool), ACT (Application Compatibility Toolkit), and more. And the best part is they are all free tools. MDT can install software, drivers, and updates during the deployment. A benefit to having MDT install software instead of installing it in audit mode is that when a newer version of the software is released, you can just make the change in MDT and any new deployment will have that updated version. There is no need to load the image, make changes, re-sysprep and capture. Drivers can be imported for each hardware model you have at your site, and MDT will install the proper drivers for you. When a newer version is released, again, just change it in MDT and you are done. Updates can be downloaded manually and imported into MDT, or you can have MDT tell the computer to run Windows Update during the deployment process. Here are two short videos to show you how easy MDT can make your deployments: · Deployment Workbenchin Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 · Part 1: Building theDeployment Environment In addition to the Windows 7 Deployment Documentation article that Tripredacus created here on MSFN (http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/146986-windows-7-deployment-documentation/), there are many more articles and videos to help your deployments on the Deliver and Deploy Windows 7 page of the Springboard series on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

Packages are in their own section, called ‘Servicing’.This section runs during the ‘offlineservicing’ pass, but is a stand-alonesection in the answer file. The TechNet article 'OfflineServicing'explains that when the offlineservicing pass begins, it will first call PackageManager and look for the ‘Servicing’ section in your answer file, then willmove on to the ‘OfflineServicing’ section. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

In addition to the suggestions made above, you might want to consider using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). With MDT, you can have the ATI driver install after Windows is deployed as a 'post installation' task. In fact, there is no need to pre-load your image with drivers at all, since MDT can manage most driver installations automatically upon deployment by simply importing the drivers into MDT. If the ATI driver doesn't install properly in this manner, then the post installation task can be configured to install the driver. MDT can also create installation media for DVD or USB installations, or the images can be used with Windows Deployment Services (WDS)or System Center Configuration Manager (Config Manager) to allow network deployments through PXE booting. Disk partitioning and formatting can also be done within MDT, so a separate script is not needed. These two videos will show you the power and flexibilityof MDT, and help you to setup your environment: Deployment Day Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012 Deployment Day Session 2: MDT 2012 Advanced Lastly, more information about deploying Windows 7 with MDT, WDS, and Config Manager can be found on the Deliver and Deploy Windows 7 page of the Springboard Series on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

You will want to ensure that you are using Windows System Image manager (Windows SIM) from the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK), along with the Windows 8 Enterprise Trial or your volume license media. Both the Windows ADK and the Windows 8 Enterprise trial can be downloaded from the Deliver and Deploy Windows 8 page of the Springboard Series on TechNet. Once you select the Windows image in the Windows SIM, it will prompt you to build a catalog file, which must be done. Once completed, you will see that the Microsoft-Windows-Foundation-Package is listed with a version number of 6.2.9200.16384. Add that to a blank unattend file, and the output will be: <servicing> <package action="configure"> <assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft-Windows-Foundation-Package"version="6.2.9200.16384" processorArchitecture="amd64"publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language=""/> <selection name="SNMP" state="true" /> <selection name="WMISnmpProvider" state="true" /> </package> </servicing> Using the above steps in my own lab, I can confirm that this deployment completed successfully. It is also possible to load Windows Server 2012 into Windows SIM, and it will show the same package with the same version number. For your second question, I suggest using different unattend files for each OS that you are installing to avoid conflicts. This is easily accomplished when you are using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, as it creates an unattend file for each OS automatically and changes are quick and easy. MDT integrates with WDS for PXE deployments, and can enhance your deployment environment with functionality that is not available with WDS alone. To understand MDT a little bit more, I recommend the following two videos also available from the Springboard Series on TechNet: · Deployment Day Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012 · Deployment Day Session 2: MDT 2012 Advanced Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

To create the unattend file (answer file), please use the Windows System Image Manager (WSIM). WSIM is a part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK). WSIM will ask you for an image, and builds a catalog file that will show you the components and settings available for that image. There is also a validation tool that will list any errors. As Tripredacus has suggested, the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) will be the best method for deployment. You can have it install drivers, Windows updates, and software after Windows is installed. This will allow you to keep a lighter base image and can customize per department needs(which software is installed to which computers) based on which task sequenceyou use. MDT can also be used to capture images from the reference computer. MDT also uses several other free tools to assist in your deployments: The Application Compatibility Tool (ACT), User State Migration Tool (USMT), Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP), Windows AutomatedInstallation Kit (WAIK), and more. It can also be used with Windows Deployment Services (WDS) and System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). In addition to the links Tripredacus has in his 'Windows7 deployment documentation' thread, here are some other videos to show you the power and flexibility of MDT. Part 1: Building the Deployment Environment Alphabet Soup Deployment: Understanding MDT, WDS, MAP, ACT, SCCM, and USMT More articles and videos about deploying Windows 7, as well as the tools mentioned in this post can be found on the Springboard Series pages for Windows 7. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

Great! Glad to hear that you got it working. As for the computer name while joining the domain, have you looked into Prestaging the computers in Active Directory? WDS will pull the computer name from AD if you have the machine pre-staged. David Windows Outreach Team - IT Pro

The very last line in this TechNet article says that if you use sysprep /audit to boot to audit mode, the computer will be removed from the domain. The Specialize pass runs during first boot (that's where domain join happens), so you are joining the domain, but then leaving it again when audit mode starts. So Tripredacus is correct and you should remove this part from your unattend file. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team - IT Pro

I agree with Tripredacus, the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) will do exactly what you are looking to do. Using the 'bare-bones' DVD is the ultimate 'Thin image', and MDT can manage hardware drivers, Windows updates, and applications separately. This short video will show you how to get started with MDT: Part 1: Building theDeployment Environment. In the video, they demonstrate how to build the media to put on a USB drive, but you can also make calls to the deployment share to distribute the images, device drivers, and applications across the network. While MDT is a stand-alone deployment solution, if you also have theWindows Deployment Services (WDS) running on a server, MDT can make use of the WDS services so that you can PXE (network) boot and deploy completely across the network. There is a great video series covering MDT in great detail on TechNet. The first video is: DeploymentDay Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012. These videos show that MDT acts as a common console for many of Microsoft's free deployment tools, such as the User State Migration Tool (USMT), the Windows System Image Manager (WSIM), the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT), Security Compliance Manager (SCM) and more. If you have the ability to use WDS, the 3rd session video will be beneficial. MDT can be easily setup for simple scenarios and has built-in templates for common deployments, or you can create your own task sequences for more complex situations. You can easily call shared network locations to install software using the Post Installation task, and if this software has a new version released, you simply change the files on the network share. Windows updates can be either downloaded and installed during the deployment, or you can download them manually and add them to the packages node to be installed during the deployment. MDT can be downloaded here, and there are many articles and videos to help you on the Deliver and Deploy page of the Springboard Series on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro

Lawson23, 1. To start, you should use the Windows System Image Manager to create your answer file (unattend.xml). WSIM has a validate function that will help you get the file set up properly. WSIM is a part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK). A short TechNet video that shows how to use WSIM can be found here. More detailed TechNet articles for using WSIM can be found here. The Unattended Installation Settings Reference is where you will find descriptions and instructions for all the components that can be used in the answer file. 2. The Synchronouscommand and RunAsynchronous commands will let you run batch files or command line commands in the answer file. 3. You can either use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool (DISM) to modify the Wim image offline, or use the commands in #2 to call network locations, copy files, and more. 4. You can either use DISM to uninstall packages from the default image on the DVD or you can create a customized image that does not have the items that you do not want. You can customize the image in Audit Mode, then use the 'CopyProfile' component in the answer file to make the administrator profile (Audit mode uses the administrator profile) the default user profile. I would also recommend that you take a look at the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). MDT is a common console for Microsoft's free deployment tools, including all the above mentioned tools and can help make your deployments fast and easy. This short video will give you a quick overview of MDT. There is a lot of flexibility gained by using MDT, such as managing drivers for different hardware, installing software after Windows is installed, and controlling a number of settings that would normally be in the answer file. There are many more videos and articles that will help you with your deployments on the Deliver and Deploy Windows 7 page of the Springboard Series on TechNet. Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team - IT Pro

HerbM, I apologize for the confusion. There was a Dell.xml file mentioned, so I thought it was a disc that Dell customized and shipped with the server. Now that you have a bootable WindowsPE disk, boot to that WindowsPE disk and call setup.exe with the /unattend switch. The article that I linked above with the implicit search order has a paragraph on "Explicitly specifying an Answer file". Hope this helps, David Windows Outreach Team - IT Pro